From St Kilda with Kindness

October 13, 2016

From St Kilda with Kindness

This was first published on the phil&teds blog

At phil&teds, we align ourselves with organisations that share similar gusto and seek to make a positive change in the world. St Kilda Mums does just that! The Australian-based organisation, founded in 2009, rehomes new and pre-loved baby goods, and nursery equipment to families in need. Through our Buggies for Good initiative, we stand beside them – helping make a difference to the lives of hundreds. We’re genuinely proud of this… phil-ed to the brim with warm fuzzies, in fact. Here’s their story.

After a visit to a local maternal and child health clinic, St Kilda Mums founder and Chief Executive, Jessica Macpherson, discovered there was a real need for rehoming used goods to vulnerable families.

“The clinic’s photocopying room was stacked high with used baby goods donated by kind, local parents. I volunteered to sort and package the goods for rehoming to families that need them. St Kilda Mums was born from that one small event. The concept was so simple; the outcome so immediate.”

Last year, phil&teds provided the organisation with over $20,000 worth of buggies, spare parts and accessories free of charge. In the past four years, through their work with maternal child health nurses and social service agencies, St Kilda Mums has rehomed over 1100 buggies from both phil&teds and Mountain Buggy.

“phil&teds’ inline buggies suit our families who regularly use public transport with two littlies in tow. Those that endure long walks to school, enjoy the ease of Mountain Buggy’s all-terrain, air-filled tyres. Me? I love the colours. Orange, apple green, cherry… makes me happy!”

Restoring a phil&teds buggy back to a clean & green pushing machine, before it goes to a good home

In 2015, St Kilda Mums helped over 7,300 vulnerable families. This year, they hope to increase that number to 10,000.

“Everything we do is aimed towards reaching this goal. All donations go directly to the families that social workers and child health nurses we’re affiliated with support. Each item to someone who specifically needs it.”

Jacqui is an enhanced care maternal and child health nurse working in Melbourne. She visits St Kilda Mums almost every week and has delivered dozens of buggies to families she’s worked with. Jacqui believes the benefit of a donated buggy is enormous not only for parents’ well-being, but also the development of their children.

“The gift of a buggy means mums and dads can leave the house with baby in tow – visit the shops, attend medical appointments, join a playgroup and take the kids to the park. It helps me build trust and a good working relationship with families in order to address the underlying cause of disadvantage.”

Helping organisations, communities and families to keep on, keepin’ on is what we like doing at phil&teds and Mountain Buggy. Along with our sample product and seconds stock, we collect pre-loved buggies from our friends around the world. Our clever little engineers give the buggies a once over to make sure they’re in good working order, and then we donate them back into the community, or to organisations like St Kilda Mums. Helping them support their cause more easily.

So, if you’ve got a buggy that you want to give the push, or know of an organisation or family that we can help, email buggiesforgood@philandteds.com. From buggy donations to charitable associations, phil&teds hearts helping.